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Olding making his mark

15 March 2017 10:34am

By Richard Finlay

Stuart Olding, on his 24th birthday, ensured that Saturday would be remembered for some time to come, as he helped his side on their way to a record points tally and record number of tries in a Guinness PRO12 match.

Starting at outhalf, Olding orchestrated a superb attacking display for Ulster that yielded 68 points and 10 tries against Zebre.

It was a reassuring sight for Director of Rugby, Les Kiss, who can rightly include Olding as a strong option in the number 10 jersey, along with Paddy Jackson, Brett Herron and Pete Nelson.

Olding, who normally lines up in midfield, knows that he'll have tougher challenges ahead, but was pleased with how his evening unfolded at Kingspan Stadium.

"That was a nice game to be playing 10 in," he admitted.

"As (Head Coach) Neil Doak had said to me during the week, it's about organising, organising, organising, so I was trying not to take too much on myself and just organise the guys around me.

"But they made my job a hell of a lot easier out there. I was just trying to be the link man between the scrumhalves and the rest of the players.

"To score 10 tries in any game, we're delighted with that."

With no fixture this weekend, Ulster will turn their attentions to next Friday's trip to Rodney Parade to play Newport Gwent Dragons.

While the attacking prowess on display on Saturday night will have been a boost for Kiss and his fellow coaches, Olding admits that he has a few defensive concerns following the concession of three tries against the Italians.

"We are annoyed at ourselves for letting in those scores and I was probably at fault for 2 of them. I'm pretty annoyed at myself for that," he added.

"But we'll go away and continue to work hard ahead of the Dragons match. We know we can't switch off as we've got a hard run through to the end of the season."